Peer-to-peer communications have become familiar in such applications as file sharing over the Internet and the like. Peer-to-peer communications allow for the direct exchange of information between network users, without necessarily requiring an intermediate server.
Many possible applications of peer-to-peer systems remain to be explored. One possible application is in the area of home entertainment, specifically, in the viewing of television broadcasts. Many television viewers are prevented by their work and personal schedules from watching television programs they enjoy at the time the programs are broadcast. Accordingly, known systems such as programmable VCRs (video cassette recorders) and TV subscription services such as offered by corporations like TiVo®, ReplayTV® and Microsoft Corporation® enable users to select TV broadcasts to record for viewing at a time of their choosing.
These known systems, however, have limitations. The limitations include the number of broadcast channels that can be recorded simultaneously, the space on the storage device used to capture aired media and the need for user intervention to replay the recorded content.
A peer-to-peer application for customized TV viewing offers improvements in storage capacity, simultaneous channel access capacity and other benefits, as described in more detail in the following.